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Protection and Provision

             The king said to me, “What is it you want?”

Then I prayed to the God of heaven, and I answered the king, “If it pleases the king and if your servant has found favor in his sight, let him send me to the city in Judah where my ancestors are buried so that I can rebuild it.”

Then the king, with the queen sitting beside him, asked me, “How long will your journey take, and when will you get back?” It pleased the king to send me; so I set a time.

 I also said to him, “If it pleases the king, may I have letters to the governors of Trans-Euphrates, so that they will provide me safe-conduct until I arrive in Judah? And may I have a letter to Asaph, keeper of the royal park, so he will give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel by the temple and for the city wall and for the residence I will occupy?” And because the gracious hand of my God was on me, the king granted my requests. So I went to the governors of Trans-Euphrates and gave them the king’s letters. The king had also sent army officers and cavalry with me. (Nehemiah 2:4-9) 

Earlier, we established that Nehemiah was working within God’s priorities and based on His promises. Yesterday was about Nehemiah’s planning. Today is about Nehemiah’s bold planning. When the time came, he not only asked the king for permission to go, but he asked for protection and abundant provision. And the king went above and beyond that by sending army officers and soldiers with him.

The first thing this suggests to me about Nehemiah’s planning is that it was thorough. He had considered what he would need: permission, protection, and provision, and he had put his finger not only on the people whose cooperation he would need, but the means of obtaining that cooperation.

I can’t help thinking that if I had been in his shoes, I would not have planned it out half so well. I would have thought I had to make do with what I could come up with myself. Maybe there would be timber and people in Jerusalem. At least, I would think I needed to examine the situation myself to figure out what would be needed. After all, the king’s generosity should not be abused.

But Nehemiah knew how great a God and how great a king he served. He didn’t see it as insulting or imposing on God or the king to ask for big things. It was insulting for him to not ask for big things. Why ask God or the king at all, if you’re only going to ask for something that your neighbor could do at least as well?

There are two reasons why I haven’t mentioned what my goals for 2022 are. One is because I don’t want this to be about me and mine. The other is that I’m still trying to discern what they should be. At the moment, I have 1.5 official goals, though some others are obvious. The first, as I discuss it with God is, “A New View of You.” The other will happen if the first happens – a new view of me. There are others that pertain to writing and such that will undoubtedly get set, but to paraphrase one of my characters, this one is “the war that must be won, if all else is lost to win it.”

 

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